Volcanic ash (2 o 2)

These highly magnified photographs of volcanic ash,
taken with a scanning electron microscope, reveal the ash
as shattered fragments (shards) of natural glass. The
holes in the shards record the presence of gas bubbles in
the erupting magma. These shards, recovered from a peat
bog near Hamilton, are about 0.15 to 0.25 millimetres
across, and were erupted from Taupō caldera about 5,000
years ago.

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Private collection Photograph by Maria Gehrels

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